On a night infamous for cultivating many scandalous headlines, and an awards season chock full of them, the 97th Academy Awards remained relatively mundane.
With no clear front runner in many of the major categories, the tale of Demi Moore’s decades long career finally getting acknowledged versus the rise of a rookie, weekly updates that tarnished the reputation of many contenders, and of course just “Emilia Pérez” as a whole, the night was poised to be eventful. I started the broadcast wondering what couldn’t go wrong.
As iridescent lights illuminated a translucent curtain, the ceremony began with a rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by the wickedly talented supporting actress nominee Ariana Grande. She was joined by her “Wicked” co-star, Cynthia Erivo, who sang “Home” from “The Wiz,” culminating in the two meeting center stage to perform “Defying Gravity.” As Erivo belted out her iconic riff, the audience rose in applause. The orchestra swelled and the two shared a bow before exiting the stage … and then Conan O’Brien introduced himself in a stark drop of energy.
O’Brien as host was a refreshing change from Jimmy Kimmel, but he still missed the spark from some of the ceremony’s best. His reference to “The Substance,” crawling out of Demi Moore’s back, was fun, but looking back, it felt like a false promise for a film that was barely awarded.
O’Brien’s monologue largely played it safe except for his shot at Karla Sofía Gascón, which was made ten times better by a Wendy Williams-esque camera man who turned to Gascón herself to catch her reaction. The actress made history by being the first openly trans woman nominated for best actress, but this milestone was quickly tainted by the harsh criticism of the film’s inauthentic representations and the resurfacing of many of Gascón’s old tweets which contained highly offensive and derogatory language.
The discussion around “Emilia Pérez” within the event itself was minimal, and its actors and crew did not help to mitigate any of the awkwardness surrounding their presence. With a historic best song win that was spoiled by an odd impromptu performance by the winners, and Zoe Saldaña’s response to press questions following her win for best supporting actress, the triumphs of the night went uncelebrated in light of the controversy that follows the film wherever it goes.
As the mid-show lull set in, another performance attempted to raise the energy but only ended up raising eyebrows. Described as a celebratory medley of “James Bond” songs, the show was instead a random combination of non-Bond related musicians honoring the franchise. Margaret Qualley’s dance number at the beginning was promising, but the acts that followed did not live up to that promise. It was Doja Cat who really lost all of the momentum that was already barely present in the medley. Her heinously off-pitch vocals in a bizarre rendition of “Diamonds are Forever” weren’t even bad enough to create an iconic pop culture moment, but instead just felt embarrassing. At the end of it all I was left wondering what was the point?
Winning best actor for a movie that many Academy members said was too long to watch, Adrien Brody’s speech felt pretty on-brand because it, too, felt never ending. Although I enjoyed “The Brutalist,” his speech, clocking in at close to six minutes and breaking the Oscars record, felt a bit overkill.
Overall, “Anora” was the clear winner of the night, sweeping the categories of original screenplay, best actress, best director, and best picture—some of the most coveted awards. A movie that remained relatively unscathed from the plague of best picture controversies this season, “Anora” was celebrated as a win for emerging talent and independent film. I left my screening of the film last October enthusiastic to support it all the way to Oscars night, but watching it continue to rack up wins, I thought back to Mikey Madison’s conversation with Pamela Anderson. It was uncomfortable to watch Anderson hear that Madison’s film, centered around sex workers, neglected hiring an intimacy coordinator, even expressing sympathy for Madison, saying, “when I saw the movie … I thought there was so much sexuality and nudity and sex in the film too, and I thought, I just wanted to grab you outta there and hug you.”
With the category being one of the most contested throughout the season, I was truly uncertain as to who would take home the best actress award; and although I was thrilled for the recognition Madison was getting I couldn’t help but feel disappointed for Moore who was quite literally watching a younger talent be recognized, in a “The Substance”-esque moment. While Madison’s performance was truly a tour-de-force, and Moore did share her screentime with co-star Margaret Qualley, I felt an unexpected connection to Moore’s story this season nonetheless. It felt like a redemption campaign of sorts, all leading up to her taking the stage before her peers to accept the Oscar, only instead she watched from the audience. The future of Moore’s career is definitely more promising due to her achievements with “The Substance,” but it still felt like a devastating loss for someone who had, before this year, never seen this level of critical acclaim for her acting work.
Co-directors Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham easily gave the best speech of the night for their win for the documentary “No Other Land.” Speaking to a room of some of the wealthiest and most influential individuals in the industry, and millions watching at home, their speech is a shining example of using the opportunity for advocacy and change. In a time of such striking political change and turmoil, it was surprising to see a lack of politically charged speeches at Sunday’s event. Maybe it’s the exhausting news cycle that inspired the lack of discourse, but for a night typically ripe for political undercurrents, it seemed to be lacking this year.
Looking at the roster of best picture nominees, and all films nominated on Sunday, I cannot find one without a political message motivating its purpose. Even “Wicked,” set in the fantastical land of Oz, deals with topics of discrimination and rebellion against a fascist regime. When you look at the eerie parallel between that and America’s current administration, however, it is hard to find anyone who was the Elphaba of the night. Having the microphone twice, “Emilia Pérez’s” team seemed to forget the very reason it was making history at the event and a central part of its messaging. While trans people are under attack by the government, the people behind a film highlighting a trans story neglected to make any mention of or indicate support for the trans community. If Hollywood cares so much as to reward representation of personal and political struggle within film, why did the event seem complacent to the censorship of the voices the nominated films had attempted to highlight?
Overall, this year’s Oscars seemed to stir very few pots and make next to no waves, and maybe in the wake of everything else we all needed an uneventful Oscars, or perhaps the focus on a low stakes Hollywood controversy would’ve been a pleasant distraction from the very high stakes discussions generating daily headlines. Either way, this weekend’s ceremony was a much anticipated conclusion to another long-winded season of awards, which seems to almost always tip toe towards the point of overextension by the time the Oscars finally come along. Wrapping up an awards season riddled with discourse, scandal, and unpredictable races, the Oscars ended it all with not so much of a bang but rather the mundane closure that was perhaps most appropriate and a relief in light of all that could have gone wrong which somehow managed to go … fine.